For the Moment
by Fenikkusu Ai
Summary: Another night of discord leaves Edo wondering about the future much to the dismay of Ryo. Written for 30 smirks. Prompt #16--Ice xFrozen in Timex


Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
Title: For the Moment  
Author: Fenikkusu Ai  
Theme(s): #16, Ice (Frozen In Time)  
Pairing: Ryo Marufuji x Edo Phoenix  
Rating: T  
Disclaimer: Nothing of YGO GX belongs to me.  
Summary: Takes place post Season 4. Snit fits ahead.

Edo possessed…a peculiar shade of eyes to say the least. Huge, blue, and dominating. He also dressed peculiarly. He was understandably a pro and therefore entitled, or rather required, to wear his three piece silver suit to his many matches. But, as far as Ryo knew, Edo never took it off…unless he asked nicely.

He talked oddly too—way too many polite honorifics, even for Hell Kaiser's taste. There was politeness, and then there was just plain sucking up. It wasn't until before the incident at Dark World that he ceased calling him "sempai."

Outside, the rain obliviously trickled down as Ryo paced aimlessly back and forth in the opulent penthouse. Calmly, Edo drank his tea; eyes drifting in and out of the magazine that bore a photograph of his truly. How utterly vain—reading a magazine about yourself. Ryo had never done anything of the sort or at least as much…back when he had a career.

A wicked smirk twists Ryo's lips. "You know, you might build a more mature fan base if you pose for _Lust of Duelists_."

"Screw off." Edo's old remark.

Ryo glanced around the living space and changed the subject. "I'm bored."

"Then, go out somewhere," Edo responded quickly.

"Not without you."

He snorts. "What are we—ten?"

Ryo glares down at the younger boy icily. At his silence, Edo sighs and sets the magazine down. "There. You have my full attention, are you happy?"

"As a matter of fact, I am."

Edo sighed. "I have a rare night off, I want to spend to spend it here, and I _don't _have many opportunities to relax." At the end of his rant, he took up the magazine again.

"Don't remind me." Ryo muttered. To put it mildly, Ryo's schedule was moderately freer. Rebuilding the Pro League—his new dream--would be hard and time-consuming if not impossible. In fact, he didn't have to take this petty adolescent stuff anymore. Still…

"Just go," Edo waved his hand at the door. "You have my blessing."

Ryo took in Edo sitting there on the white leather couch. His thumb traced the outline of his lips as his eyes fastened on the pages of the magazine in front of him. In his other hand was a cup of steaming tea. Deftly, Ryo switched tactics. He was going to have to be as immature as Edo to make a dent then.

"You look…so dignified sitting there, Phoenix. Like a little old man."

Edo jerked his head up. "Now, what are you going on about?"

"You heard me. In that suit, in that tie, drinking your _tea_. Most kids your age would be at a club…or in a back alley getting into all kinds of trouble."

"A _kid_?" He was outraged.

Edo's anger level was rising, and Ryo was enjoying the burn. He really didn't want this evening to be boring. Purposefully, he kept adding fuel to the fire.

"You remind me of one of those old English oil paintings I studied about in Art Appreciation; pretty to look but immobile in the frame. I mean, everything about you is gray. Your hair, your clothes, your duel disc. You may as well be covered in dust."

Edo set down the tea cup in a rage. Some aromatic brown liquid sloshed over the rim. "So. This is how you want to spend your night?" he demanded. "Making jabs at each other?"

"Better than being ignored."

Edo was on his feet now; anger exuding from those beautiful yet deadly icy eyes.

"Yes, Phoenix?"

Then, all at once—it stopped. Anger being replaced with a weariness befitting an ancient relic. "It's different now, isn't it?" Edo whispered.

Now, Ryo was the one confused. "Different?"

Edo shook his head. "Us. We're different now. Life has gone forward. We're not rivals with a grudge anymore. You can't blame me for ruining your potential career and your reputation no more than I can blame destiny… at least for all of my problems," he finished quickly. "When is this bitchiness between us ever going to smooth out? This constant conflict? When we really are old and gray?"

Ryo snorted. "You think we'll be together that long?" he asked sarcastically.

"That's my point exactly. I'm not some clueless fifteen-year old with a burning vendetta for justice anymore. I'm seventeen going on eighteen. I have to think about maintaining my position in the Pros now, or rather protecting it. Eventually, I'm going to have to…well, _we're_ both going to have to…" he trailed off.

This little speech was grating on his ears. "Yeah, and I'm nineteen going on twenty," Ryo countered. "Older than you. You think too much, Phoenix. Live for tonight. Stop looking at your crystal ball. I know it's still hidden here somewhere."

"You did it again," Edo growled. "I try to be serious and--"

Ryo crosses the gulf between and kisses Edo right on the lips. Naturally, Edo is forced to shut up before he talks himself into oblivion. Exactly as he intended.

Ryo pulls back after a stretch before gazing right into Edo's startled eyes. "Don't talk like that. You don't know the future. You know why _this_ is happening right now?" He gestured to first his and then Edo's lips. "_Chemisty_. We have it. Don't let the world take that away too, Edo."

Edo searched Ryo's eyes, something Ryo had the impression Edo had done often to strangers as a child, before relaxing in his sudden embrace. "We'll try it for a while," he murmured.

Both breathed a sigh of relief as the rain droplets slid down the windows. Time had been preserved.

For the moment.


End file.
